The demand for energy is ever increasing due to economic growth, industrialization, growing population and the growing needs of the population. With challenges posed in the field of energy generation due to climatic changes, insufficient rain, strict environmental norms and government regulations, low availability of resources and fossil fuel depletion, there is felt a need for a shift towards alternative sources of clean, economical, and renewable energy. There is also a need for renewable power generation that delivers massive amount of clean, economical and reliable power to cater to the ever increasing demand.
Although, prior art suggests use of wind power generators or wind mills for extracting wind energy and converting wind energy into useful power, wind mills known in the prior art have numerous drawbacks associated with use thereof. For instance, wind mills fail to consistently and efficiently generate power from wind, which is inherently random and variable. Constant efforts are being made to develop efficient and reliable systems to harness wind energy; tether power systems playing an important role in this endeavor.
A tether is typically connected to wind power or hydropower systems at one end while the other end of the high strength tether is wound around a spool attached to a generator on the ground. During an outbound stroke, the tether is pulled out from the spool attached to the generator on the ground; reel-in is initiated during a retrieval stroke and the tether is stored in a storage means. Tension in the tether causes linear motion of the tether, and as the tether moves, the spool disposed on the ground rotates. The spool transfers rotational motion thereof to the generator connected thereto for generation of power. A relatively small amount of power is required for retrieval of the tether. The difference between the power generated during the outbound stroke and power spent for retrieving the tether is the resultant power generated.
In a nutshell, tension and linear motion of the tether is utilized for generation of power. However, it is very critical that tension in the tether is harnessed effectively for efficient generation of power. Also, any wear of the tether is detrimental and hampers power generation. The tether is quite an expensive component due to its length thereof. Accordingly, there is a need for minimizing wear and tear of the tether wrapped around the spool.